Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $87.00 to $60.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Jack in the Box traded as low as $53.56 and last traded at $53.56, with a volume of 67566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.80.

JACK has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Jack in the Box from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on Jack in the Box from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Northcoast Research raised Jack in the Box from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Jack in the Box from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Jack in the Box from $81.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael W. Murphy sold 1,332 shares of Jack in the Box stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $96,676.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 71,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,155,720.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Jack in the Box in the third quarter worth $93,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jack in the Box in the first quarter worth $97,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Jack in the Box by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,993 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jack in the Box by 16,893.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.36 and a 200 day moving average of $71.11.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.95. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $487.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Jack in the Box’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 6.38 EPS for the current year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.93%.

Jack in the Box Company Profile

Jack in the Box Inc operates and franchises Jack in the Box and Del Taco quick-service restaurants in the United States. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.